


Indebted Heart

by Chai



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dragons, F/F, Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2015-11-13
Packaged: 2018-05-01 10:19:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5202182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chai/pseuds/Chai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The simple healer of a small forest village, Rose Quartz finds a strange animal caught in a snare. Unable to watch it suffer, she tends to its wounds and sets it free, only to soon find that its gratitude for the rescue may have greater implications than she realized.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Indebted Heart

The local hunters were on the warpath. Something had been taking their livestock in the night, leaving dead cows gored and half-eaten on the outskirts of their paddocks and decimating their hen houses, and they were out in full force, crossbows drawn and hounds set loose to bring fangs to bear on whatever they could catch. She knew this, but she kept moving.

The high pitched keening drew Rose ever deeper into the forest. The sound was unfamiliar but plaintive, and she had even tried to ignore it for a time-- An agonizing fifteen minutes of needy squeals corkscrewing their way straight through her big, big heart before she could take no more, grabbing her bag and dashing out to it’s rescue. Surely it was just some poor animal caught in one of the hunter’s snares-- something shy frightened from its usual haunts by the commotion filling the woods, and unfortunate kobold or wolpertinger she could cut loose and send on it’s way without anyone the wiser.

The sounds became louder the closer she got, and she clucked her tongue in sympathy. Whatever beast could sing so sweetly, even in distress, could hardly be their dangerous nightstalker. Tears prickled behind her eyes at the thought of something so innocent caught in the crossfire, and she let them swell, fumbling in her bag for a glass vial to catch them with as her vision blurred pink.

The crying was closer now, and she could hear the creature thrashing and shaking tree branches, as well as the curious thud of air that meant it must have wings. A young gryphon, maybe?

When she pushed aside a bramble patch with the thick leather of her pack, the sight before her eyes took her breath away. It was no common woodland creature, mundane OR magical, that was for certain. It was like nothing Rose had ever seen before, a beast with ivory hide that _glowed_ even in the dim light trickling through the forest canopy. She thought it some sort of deer at first, its long, thin legs splayed out under a small but sturdy body, cloven hooves glinting like mythril chips in the leaf litter. Its neck arched like a swan’s, a feathered mane of short, peachy curls leading up between an elegant set of antlers. They shone like the rest of its body, silvery-blue and as luminous as its eyes-- as blue as a robin’s egg, enormous in its narrow face and staring straight at her.

It was as beautiful as it was _terrified_.

It had fallen silent and still the instant it saw her, snowy wings half-furled and trembling with the effort not to move, and all Rose could do at first was stare right back. Then it flinched, eyes screwing up in pain as it let out that sad, ringing cry again. Like church bells, silvery and sweet and high enough to set her teeth on edge. It sounded like a _unicorn_ , but no unicorn she’d ever heard of looked like _that_. Then it threw its wings open with a snap, heaving its body off the ground and lunging away from her. Trying to, at least, since it barely got a step before being ripped back, legs twisting out from under it as it wailed in fright and pain. Rose had to cover her ears, pressing down with her palms to try and muffle the sound, but it pierced straight through her like a spear to the heart.

The beast, enchanting even as it writhed and whimpered, collapsed into a heap, wings sending another flurry of feathers into the air. Stress-molting, the analytical part of her mind guessed, noting the pinions strewn generously across the narrow game trail and everywhere within a certain radius of the curious animal. It stared at her again, froth gathering at the corners of its mouth and chest heaving as it gasped for breath. Exhausted, but still wary. Rose smiled.

“You brave thing,” she called to it, as gently as she could, but it still winced. Curiously, one of its ears flicked her way, trembling in place but otherwise firmly aimed in her direction. The other started to swivel, this way and that, listening for anything else that might be heading its way. Like it realized that if Rose had heard it, others might have as well. It lifted its head as she began to approach, wings slowly lifting into the air and muscles twitching as it geared up to leap away, only able to pull three of its four legs underneath it. Finally Rose could see the problem, and her hands leapt to her mouth with a gasp.

A _bear trap_ peeked out from the fallen leaves, its wicked cold-iron fangs snapped tight around the not-unicorns leg and splattered with ichor the same robin’s-egg blue of its eyes, shot through with veins of silver. There were pearly scales glittering around the trap, and she could see the raw patches of skin where they’d been scraped off by the sawing of its teeth. Then the wound itself… It had clearly been there a while before its cries had reached Rose. She wanted to retch, the thought of this poor creature enduring so much pain making bile rise in her throat.

“I’m so sorry…,” she said quietly, more to herself than to the creature, but nonetheless its ears twitched in her direction. It even turned its head as she went on. “All this fuss over… hunting down some monster, but are they even thinking about who else is in danger because of them? You can’t be the only one… Who knows how many others have been caught in their snares.”

Rose sighed to herself, shaking her head, and when she looked up, she caught the not-unicorns eye. It had lifted its head, finally, both ears tilted forward at her, and its gaze sent a shiver down her spine. ...She got the distinct feeling it understood her. She sure _hoped_ it understood her, because now that she was closer, Rose could see that it was a lot bigger than she’d realized, much closer to a horse than a deer, and getting it out of that trap without hurting it worse or getting herself gored on those antlers would have been tricky enough with a _mundane_ buck.

She took another step closer, then another, and it continued to stare. She was nearly close enough to touch it when it began to struggle again, making Rose jump and nearly stumble. It didn’t do much. Squirmed and tried to claw itself further away from her, wings flapping uselessly before finally folding to its back. It bleated at her in utter resignation after that, the sound almost a sob as it dropped its head back to the ground. Fluttering around with the long pennant feathers stretching off its wings, what she thought was more feathers was actually a _tail_ , long and serpentine with a tuft of that downy peach hair at the end. Lion-like. Rose squinted at the creature, lips twisting in a wry smile.

“...Are you absolutely certain you’re not a unicorn, friend? Because I can’t say I’m convinced.”

It snorted and squeaked, tail flicking once. Rose thought it sounded just the tiniest bit like a laugh.

“Now, let’s see here…,” she muttered, gathering her dress in one hand as she knelt to examine the trap. Definitely cold-iron, as was the chain anchoring it to a peg in the ground. The peg itself… Rose hummed. _That_ was enchanted, and she recognized the magic as well. Definitely one of _her_ villages hunters, which only made her sigh. “Well, we’re certainly not going to be moving _this_ any time soon, now are we…?”

She thought the following squeak sounded curious, and before she could stop herself, Rose reached up to give the creatures scaled flank a comforting pat. It jumped, wings flaring as it twisted around to give her the most insulted look she’d ever _seen_ on a wild thing. It was all she could do not to laugh, holding up both hands and showing it her flat, empty palms.

“Easy now, my pretty friend, _eeeeasy_. It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you. See? I haven’t melted your scales off or anything like that. Nothing to worry about.”

It peered at the spot she had touched, and though she was an accomplished warrior herself, it still made Rose more than a little nervous as it shuffled itself around and brought those antlers far too close to her face. Watching them so intently, it took Rose a moment to realize it was her the creature was looking at, not the bit of flank she’d defiled by touching it. Though they were still clouded with pain, its delicate face drawn with fatigue and scuffed with dirt, its eyes stared straight through her. Any other person might have found it disquieting, might see something knowing and ancient in those slitted pupils, but Rose simply saw fear and the tiniest bit of hope.

She offered it her hand, and it recoiled, ears flicking back as it tucked its chin and aimed its antlers her way.

“It’s okay,” she told it, not budging. It was afraid, but it understood her. She _knew_ it did. “I’m going to help you. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

...Its eyes flicked to Rose’s own, then back to her hand. Its ears twitched, nostrils flaring on its scaly nose, and after what felt like an eternity, it leaned forward and gently nudged her hand. Twice, even, whistling high in its throat as it gazed down at her. _Pleading_ with its eyes for rescue. Her heart went out to it. It was confusing and frightening enough for an animal to be caught in a trap, but whatever _this_ was, she clearly understood that _someone_ had put it there.

Brushing leaf litter and feathers off the trap and clearing a patch of grass around it, it took a few minutes before Rose caught up with her own thoughts. ... _She_ understood? Rose glanced at it from under her bangs, bent over the iron set of jaws. ...It was effeminate, she supposed, in the same regal way any hart or hind was. But she didn’t want to just call it a ‘her’ because of that. All unicorns were equally elegant, too, regardless of sex. ...But this one DID have a lot of similarities to what Rose supposed must be her scaleless cousins, and she sported no tufted chin, so perhaps ‘she’ was accurate after all.

She shook her head to clear the distracting thoughts, then had to coo in apology and hush the poor creature as the sudden move startled her and made her strain against the trap. She even allowed Rose to pat her bluish nose, though she shied away after a few seconds, ears laid back and eyes screwed shut again.

The poor thing.

Rose shrugged off the strap of her bag, setting it within arms reach and getting to work.

“You’re pretty unlucky, aren’t you dear?” she murmured as she pulled out a vial not unlike the one she’d used to collect her tears, though smaller and filled with blue instead of pink. A gift from an old friend. Careful not to spill it on her curious not-unicorn’s foot, she poured a few drops onto each of the two springs keeping the trap jaws clenched. “Such little feet and you _still_ managed to step on the trigger…”

The thin potion shimmered on the dark metal, seeping quickly over the bent coils of the spring and spreading in sparkling fractals as it froze. She wondered if Sapphire would consider it a waste. _She_ certainly didn’t, resealing it tightly and returning it to it’s token loop in her satchel as she listened to the crackle and creak of of the seer’s special serum working its magic. Rose could see one of the creature’s ears tilted her way again.

“Now for the _fun_ part,” she said, grinning as she held up a second vial and gave it a wiggle. There wasn’t much inside, just the few drops of tears she’d shed on the creature’s behalf while trying to find it, but those would be more than enough. Even for a wound like this. Rose gave her flank another pat, only garnering a brief glance this time, hand sliding down along her leg to grasp it firmly below the second joint. Technically her ankle, Rose thought, but she wasn’t as experienced with the anatomy of hooved animals. Cats were more her style. “Just relax… A few moments more, now…”

 _ **CRACK**_.

The creature squealed and jumped, wings fluttering, and the look she gave Rose was almost accusing once she realized that she wasn’t in any new pain. The springs had gone as pale blue as her eyes, and the frost was starting to creep into the rest of the trap, which meant it was almost ready. Rose upended the vial over her mangled leg, dumping the contents directly into the wound a scant few seconds before the trap gave an almighty groan and came apart, springs shattering and jaws clanking as they fell loose.

Her new friend was off like a shot the instant she was free, leaping out of Rose’s grasp with a triumphant bleat. She stumbled immediately, long legs tangled up together as she fell, and Rose had to wince at the thud. Far from being deterred by it, she just rolled over, wings splayed in the dirt as she twisted around, peering in obvious bewilderment at the now pristine stretch of leg Rose had just freed. It was still stripped of its scales, but the skin was smooth and whole, not so much as a scratch or a bruise left from the wicked iron teeth.

She looked from her leg to Rose, then back again, and her expression was so completely befuddled that Rose couldn’t contain her laughter anymore. A snort burst out, making way for a torrent of giggles, and the sound only seemed to confuse the creature even more, which made Rose laugh _harder_. She tumbled onto her backside, hand over her mouth as she chortled and tried to keep her voice down.

The now _very_ confused not-unicorn rolled back onto her feet, shaking her wings as she scrambled up and further away from Rose. She didn’t run away like Rose might have expected, peering out shyly from behind a tree instead. She stood and watched while Rose got herself together again, still snickering as she wiped tears from her eyes. Plain, normal tears this time.

She remained where she was for the moment, pulling her knees up to wrap her arms around and lean forward on. She smiled at the strange beast, who gazed right back with those great big blue eyes. Now and then she looked away to peer at her ankle again, but she always went right back to staring at Rose.

“I have never seen _anything_ quite like you,” she called to her, giggling again as she jumped and ducked a little further behind the tree, only to come out again and aim her ears forward as Rose continued to speak. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you might be. You’re a deer, a unicorn… An awful lot of things in one.”

She took a step out into view, then another the more Rose talked to her, head low and wings half-furled over her back, but she looked more curious than aggressive. Her ears were canted forward, swinging loosely in other directions as she picked up other little sounds, the tuft of her long tail sweeping slowly back and forth over the grass. So Rose kept thinking out loud, holding a rather one-sided conversation with her as she crept closer and closer.

When she was almost close enough that Rose could have reached out and touched her, she offered her hand, watching as she froze in place.

She tilted her head, glancing from Rose’s hand to her face, and tossed her head in a gesture Rose couldn’t interpret. She scratched at the ground with one cloven hoof, letting out a whinny in the same high, silvery tone as the rest of her little noises.

“Go on. I won’t hurt you.”

That seemed to satisfy her, because after a few hesitant false starts, she pressed her nose into Rose’s palm. Finding it to be nothing more dangerous than a gentle scratch on her snout, she bleated and shut her eyes, pressing immediately into the touch. She didn’t so much as flinch when Rose laughed again.

“Oh, you poor thing, are you lonely…? It’s alright. We can be friends.”

She chuckled and slid her hand along her face, scratching under her narrow chin and grinning when she wiggled her scaly ears in pleasure. She was scaled almost everywhere, Rose could see now, and they were cool to the touch, hard but smooth as silk. The underside of her neck, her belly, and inside her ears was all furred, but the rest was covered in shiny, luminous scales. One didn’t mesh with the rest, protruding in a great lump between her antlers and half-hidden by the mussed, wispy curls of her mane. She smoothed the hair away from it, admiring the warm way it caught the light, and gave the creature’s cheek a pat with her other hand.

“Aren’t you just the loveliest… whatever-you-are. You look like you’re wearing a coat of pearls. This big one especially, like something from those giant oysters the southern mages like so much.”

Blinking, she cocked her head and let out a curious bleat. Rose shook her head.

“I guess you wouldn’t really know anything about the sea, if you live _here_. I bet you’d like it.”

Her new friend bleated again, perhaps in agreement, as she started to lick Rose’s fingers. She cringed, but not so much from the touch of the warm blue tongue as what ELSE she caught a glimpse of in that mouth. Whatever traits she shared with unicorns, she couldn’t possibly share their diet, not by the looks of the pointed teeth she was sporting. Grimacing, Rose gave her neck a pat.

“I certainly _hope_ you’re not the one who’s been getting into our paddocks at night,” she muttered, shaking her head. “You’re much too sweet to be responsible for such violence.”

She nosed curiously at Rose’s dress, making another little squeak that might have been agreement before she jolted, head snapping up and ears pricked. The sudden motion made Rose jump, and she looked around, straining her own hearing for whatever had startled her. It didn’t take long, for the sound was distant but carried well-- _hounds_ , braying and barking, whining at the shouts from their masters. Rose couldn’t tell from here if they sounded angry or triumphant, and she didn’t want to stick around and find out, if they turned this way.

The creature was trembling, wide eyes gazing out to where the sounds seemed to be coming from, and she looked wildly between it and Rose. She shook her wings and pranced unsurely in place, hooves stomping and tail flicking as she whinnied. She didn’t want to leave…?

“ _ **GO!**_ ” Rose leapt to her feet, throwing her arms up and startling the beast into leaping away. She chased after her, flailing her arms wildly and raising her voice as high as she dared. “Go, go! Run!”

She reared onto her hind legs, dancing back as she flared her wings, and Rose had no doubt those fine hooves could do plenty of damage if she decided to bring them to bare, but Rose didn’t stop. She had to scare her off now, or the dogs would smell her and bring the whole hunting party down on her thorny head. Rose wished the creature was the only one she was afraid for. The light armor she knew they favored would never stand a chance against those antlers.

“Run, fly, do _something_ \-- Just get _out_ of here!”

With another high, frightened bugle, she finally wheeled around and took off, careening out into the forest. Rose thought her gallop would thunder at that size, dainty hooves or not, but the ghostly creatures bounding steps barely made a sound. Rose didn’t wait to lose sight of her, gathering up her skirts and taking after the creatures example. She ran for home as fast as her feet would carry her.

Forty five minutes and a wrong turn that resulted in her tumbling knee-deep into a stream before she could stop herself, Rose finally made it back to her home. It was a fairly humble dwelling, one that Rose thought befit a reclusive but kindly healer, and she stopped to lean on one of her fence posts to catch her breath and look it over. The garden was a tad ambitious for one person, perhaps, but plants were both her love and her livelihood. She could never survive by herself if she didn’t have her garden to tend. The expansive stretch of well-loved greenery was neat but not unnecessarily pruned, giving it a sense of organized chaos leading right up to her back door. Then the cabin itself was a small affair perfect for a woman who lived alone, or perhaps a newlywed couple, situated on the very outskirts of the forest village where she would be mostly unbothered.

She occasionally wondered if it wouldn’t have been better to settle closer to the heart of the town, where she’d be easier to reach if someone were hurt, but today at least she was grateful that she hadn’t. Rose kicked off her shoes at the garden gate, sighing happily at the thick, lively soil under her feet as she walked to her door. It was the same as the magic that thrummed under her skin, and she loved it so. Tucking her skirts beneath her as she sank down, Rose took a seat on her back step and lingered there a while to enjoy the sunshine and watch her plants stir in the breeze. Even with everything she’d been through in her life, it was a little hard to believe the encounter she’d just had.

Such a strange creature. She’d never realized something like that lived in these woods. Good thing she found her before anyone else did… She didn’t think anyone could mistake her for their stalker in the night, but she also knew there were more than a few people in the hunter’s ‘guild’ that wouldn’t have any qualms about killing and butchering her for the parts.

Magical creatures fetched a nice price. Even when you didn’t quite know what they were. Especially when you didn’t know what they were.

Rose sighed and closed her eyes, head tilting back and hitting the door with a dull thud.

“I hope you’ll be okay on your own…”

It wasn’t for another hour, when she heard the last dregs of the hunting party returning to town, that Rose realized she’d forgotten her satchel. Cursing her carelessness, she shielded her dark eyes against the setting sun and scowled into the trees. There was still enough light to travel by, but by the time she found her way back to where the creature was, it would be full dark. If there was a full moon she might have considered it, but it had been a _new_ moon just last night. The tiny sliver of moon tonight would have to offer wouldn’t have nearly enough light to penetrate the forest canopy…

And she didn’t want to meet the monster coming, either.

Rose sighed and shook her head, twitching the hand-woven curtains shut over the window. Most of the things inside the bag could be replaced easily enough, but it also had her only vial of Sapphire’s frost potion… And that wasn’t easy to make, even for an elemental so cold she barely bled when cut.

  
Either way, Rose thought, turning away to set a kettle on the stove for some tea, retrieving the bag would have to be an adventure for another day.

**Author's Note:**

> ...I'll be honest, I have no idea what to tell you guys about this one. It's something of a spiritual successor to "You're My Treasure," the Dragon AU which has largely taken over my life since I first read it. This particular story is pretty non-canon to that universe, though it does still borrow some concepts-- Gems being a sort of human link between the mundane and the magical, and the very unique properties of dragons just to name a few.
> 
> Pearl isn't a dragon in the main AU, so you could consider this story a sort of 'what if' in that vein, to see what she may have looked like and how the relationship between her and Rose could have altered. Inspired largely by my friend Jaxon who more or less came up with the whole plot on a whim, and subsequently written FOR him when my idle doodles of his design spawned some pretty turns of phrase in my head.
> 
> If you've ever watched 'The Last Unicorn,' you've heard exactly the sounds Pearl's been making.
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it! If you've got any questions, please, feel free to ask. <3


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